{"id":578800,"date":"2026-04-11T23:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/578800\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T23:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:54:10","slug":"bill-maher-is-not-convinced-by-the-artemis-ii-mission-lets-fix-the-show-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/578800\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher is not convinced by the Artemis II mission: \u2018Let\u2019s fix the ****show on Earth\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cJuFfN\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cJuFfN\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cJuFfN\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bill-maher\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Maher<\/a> is less than enthused about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/space\/artemis-ii-splashdown-live-updates-nasa-reentry-b2955665.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the success of the Artemis II space mission<\/a> to the moon and back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt a time where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/iran-us-war-live-trump-ceasefire-peace-talks-pakistan-b2955715.html\" title=\"Iran-US war latest: Two American warships pass through Strait of Hormuz as peace talks get underway in Pakistan\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">there\u2019s a lot of tension going on here on Earth,<\/a> this is kind of the feel-good story that has everybody excited,\u201d the comedian said in the opening monologue of Friday\u2019s episode of \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWherever I go, \u2018Bill, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/space\/artemis-ii-mission-accomplished-nasa-moon-b2955676.html\" title=\"Astronauts survive plunge to Earth and complete Artemis Moon mission in huge success for NASA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">did you see the photos?\u2019<\/a> Yeah, I saw them. Earth as I\u2019ve always seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cI just don&#8217;t get it. I mean\u2026 everybody&#8217;s like, if we&#8217;re on the moon, we can get to Mars. I don&#8217;t want to go there either\u2026 there&#8217;s nothing out there except other rocks. Let&#8217;s fix the s*** show here on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maher\u2019s remarks were taped before the crew of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/artemis-ii\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Artemis II<\/a> returned safely to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific near San Diego just after 7 p.m. on Friday. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-11-at-3-29-09-PM.png\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Bill Maher is less than enthused about the success of the Artemis II space mission earlier this week.\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Bill Maher is less than enthused about the success of the Artemis II space mission earlier this week. (Real Time with Bill Maher)<\/p>\n<p>During the 10-day lunar fly-by mission, the four-person crew, consisting of astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, surpassed the Apollo 13 record for farthest crewed spaceflight and captured views of the far side of the Moon.<\/p>\n<p>This did not impress Maher, who went on to moan about space exploration later in his show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not a fan of going to the moon,\u201d he said, speaking to his guests Douglas Murray and Paul Rieckhoff. \u201cSame question I\u2019ve been asking since I was a kid. Why? Is it worth the money? What are we doing there? It\u2019s just another big f****** rock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maher added that the money used for the mission, estimated to be over $4 billion, could have been spent \u201cmore wisely\u201d and described space travel as something for \u201crich people to do for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy the way, it\u2019s not outer space, it\u2019s right next door. It\u2019s nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cHere\u2019s the universe, and we\u2019re on the moon, 250 miles away. I have more miles on Delta\u2026 we\u2019re not really getting anything from it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI292702882.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Maher\u2019s remarks were taped before the crew of the Artemis II returned safely to Earth, splashing down at just after 7 p.m. Friday\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Maher\u2019s remarks were taped before the crew of the Artemis II returned safely to Earth, splashing down at just after 7 p.m. Friday (NASA)<\/p>\n<p>His remarks were criticized by Rieckhoff, who said the mission had been inspiring, since Artemis II had \u201cgone further than any people have gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy 10 more miles. We\u2019ve been to the moon before. We know [what it is],\u201d Maher replied.<\/p>\n<p>Maher\u2019s reaction also struck a nerve over on Fox News, with commentator Charlie Hurt blasting the comedian for not recognizing the \u201cmagic\u201d of the moon mission. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate even giving them airtime, but maybe it\u2019s worth paying some attention to goofballs like Bill Maher who would rather just sit around and I guess argue about politics on Earth,\u201d Hurt said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBill Maher\u2019s among the least impressive people that I\u2019ve ever listened to, but there are some people like him out there who look at this and don\u2019t see the magic of this,\u201d Hurt said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[79,193],"class_list":["post-578800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}